tug one's forelock

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Show respect or deference to someone, often in a humiliating way

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

thể hiện sự tôn trọng hoặc khiêm tốn với ai đó, thường theo cách bỉ mặt

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: pull one's forelock, a lock of hair over the forehead
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The servant tugged his forelock as the lord passed by

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “tug one's forelock” mean?

Show respect or deference to someone, often in a humiliating way Literally: pull one's forelock, a lock of hair over the forehead

Is “tug one's forelock” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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